AESTHETIC SIKNESS

 

AESTHETIC SICKNESS – the real life “ART ATTACK” 

We all like art. Even if we wouldn’t be able to understand the artworks, we enjoy looking at those strokes of brush, those figures - we appreciate its beauty – be it paintings, architecture, sculptures. My sister was such an admirer of art. She would often Google famous painters and view their artworks.  

Once, our family planned a trip to Italy, Rome and other European countries. It is not quite possible to visit these places and not explore various artworks there. These countries have rich art pieces. My sister had never really seen a real-life artwork, so she was all the more excited.  

We began with Florence. We had heard about the Dante’s death mask been held there and requested the guide to let us view it. As soon as we entered the room and saw the death mask, my sister acted different. Her heart beats fastened, palpitations increased, she complained of being unable to breathe. We took her out of the room, made her sit, gave her some water and tried to calm her down. After a few minutes, she regained her normal breathing pace. She felt better but was unable to speak about the incident. We thought it was the death mast that scared her. She insisted we move out of this place and visit some other museum.  

We then went to other museums in Florence. A similar episode occurred but this time it was a beautiful, positive painting – the Birth of Venus by Botticelli. She was petrified and felt dizzy. We understood this reaction was not about dreadful artwork, but more than that. This had to do with artwork in general. Looking at her condition, we went back to the hotel, but still, she could experience nausea and breathing problems. Even the beautiful structures of Rome overwhelmed her – the entire trip was difficult. 

On returning back home, we encountered that she had a condition known as “STHENDHAL SYNDROME” wherein, a person gets extremely overwhelmed after viewing artworks. Any beautiful stimulus may trigger such behavior. Once it has been triggered, it may happen in other situations as well such as any beautiful scene, a sunset, etc. It is a rare condition which can be treated by CBT. After a few sessions my sister seemed fine, the symptoms were reduced.  

Manpravah Hypnoclinic 

Clinical psychologist & Hypnotherapist 

𝐌𝐨𝐛 – 𝟎𝟗𝟖𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟑𝟗𝟒𝟒𝟒 / 𝟎𝟗137350434 

Web – Dr Sukumar Munje: Best Hypnotherapist 

Clinics @Prabhadevi (W)/ Parel (W), Borivali, Vashi, New Panvel